Alyscha Mottershead and Jenna Rickan embraced in a cheerful hug as rain fell at the SU Soccer Stadium. Syracuse’s senior captains shared a moment of reminiscence and joy after a hard-fought game against Rutgers on Sunday.

It was the duo of Rickan and Mottershead that connected on Mottershead’s goal in the 103rd minute to give the Orange an emotional 1-0 victory in front of 277 soaked spectators. SU (7-4-2, 4-1-1 Big East) overcame weather and a physical Rutgers (8-6, 1-5) team to win its third consecutive game.

“We’ve been through a lot through my four years here, and she’s transferred in,” Rickan said of Mottershead. “It’s just, finally, everything we deserve is coming together.”

SU head coach Phil Wheddon said the team is excited to be where it is: second place in the Big East’s American Conference entering Thursday’s match against Pittsburgh.

“We knew that we had to put together 90 minutes of solid soccer and I think we did that,” Wheddon said. “What a great goal from Alyscha. … I just wish she would have decided to do that in the 85th minute, or in the first half, but it was a great goal.”

Scarlet Knights forward Jonelle Filigno set the physical tone early on as she collided with SU defender Kayla Alfonso just minutes into the match. Alexis Koval then collided with Rutgers defender Maggie Morash. Rickan and Jackie Firenze had their jerseys tugged. Officials held their whistles.

“You saw that, right?” Wheddon asked an official after Rickan was pulled to the ground.

“These conditions make it a little bit more physical sometimes,” Wheddon said. “Rutgers has a lot to fight for. They’re sort of fighting for their lives right now because they’ve had some tough results. … But you’ve got to match the competition, and I feel our players did that.”

Neither team found a rhythm with such physicality. SU midfielder Rosina Callisto had the best scoring chance in the first half, but Rutgers goalkeeper Emmy Simpkins turned her point blank shot aside. Syracuse held a 5-4 shot advantage at the end of the first half.

The Scarlet Knights’ best scoring chance came 15 minutes into the second half. Rachel Cole found Stephanie Scholz, whose shot beat SU goalkeeper Brittany Anghel, but hit the post. Taylor Hanelin cleared away the rebound. SU outshot Rutgers 7-4 in the second half.

Syracuse had a clear advantage in the first overtime, outshooting Rutgers 3-0, but once again couldn’t capitalize.

The Orange only needed one shot in the second overtime.

Rickan had the ball just above the 18-yard box and laid it diagonally behind her to Mottershead. Mottershead stepped into it and directed the ball into the left side of the net past the diving keeper.

“She’s very good with laying the ball off, so I knew she’d give me an easy ball to handle,” Mottershead said. “I just kind of shut my eyes, which is probably not the right thing to do, but I knew I just had to hit it hard.”

SU’s bench mobbed the field as the ball beat Rutgers keeper Emily Simpkins.

“Rutgers has always been a rival match for us. For some reason it’s always played close until the last couple of minutes, so today we didn’t expect anything less,” Mottershead said.

Syracuse’s seven wins match its total from last season with four games remaining. Anghel recorded her 16th career shutout.

“Rutgers is always a really hard team to play and we always play them in the rain,” Rickan said. “We knew it was going to be a hard game and that they’re really strong. It was just a battle for who wanted it more, and we wanted it more today.”

Published on September 30, 2012 at 11:48 pm

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu